I drove past the the Tinman Diner this morning,
and saw that there had recently been a fire, gutting the place. I'd only been there once, when I was about 8 or 9 on my way back from Camp Meadowlark. I don't remember the circumstances, exactly. I think I had gotten on the wrong bus leaving camp and, following a completely forgettable but surely exciting denoument, found myself another bus with Karen, the counsellor from England. It was hot and the bus was packed and I was parched and eventually we were dumped on the side of the highway in front of the Tinman Diner. When my family arrived, we went inside for lunch and I ordered iced tea and chocolate milk in separate glasses.